Flippy the Robot Will Cook Your Hamburger and Transform the Kitchen

Once the domain of pimply-faced teens looking for spending money, flipping burgers at a fast food joint may soon give way to a technological innovation.

TechCrunch is reporting about a new robot dubbed Flippy, developed by an outfit called Miso Robotics, that will help make life easier in commercial kitchens. As for what kind of specific jobs Flippy does, TechCrunch explains:

Flippy grabs unwrapped burger patties, moves them into position on a hot grill, keeps track of each burger’s cook-time and temperature, then alerts human cooks when it’s time to apply cheese or other toppings. Flippy plates burgers but doesn’t wrap them or add finishing touches like lettuce, tomatoes, avocado or a restaurant’s signature sauce.

It's definitely an interesting innovation, but not one devoid of any imperfections. Uproxx reports that it remains to be seen whether restaurants will ever actually use it, as well as the fact that it's unclear what will happen if Flippy breaks down. There's also the little matter of how much it costs to purchase and operate and how it could potentially take jobs away from millions of people.

Flippy, which has been tested in a California eatery, will get an additional boost because CaliBurger has agreed to use it in more than four dozen of its restaurants, which means pimply-faced teens may want to look for some new places to work.